Arrival of Adventurers

The dim tunnel was filled with a nauseating stench, while the giant spider's green blood dripped steadily from its own enormous web.

Like its spider relatives, Arachno was forever lumped together under the blanket term "giant spider monster" by most illiterate Adventurers.

Only those who truly understood them knew that they were a special breed of giant spider capable of weaving poisonous webs.

Their thick webs were impossible to miss, and weaker Monsters would keep far away from them.

But there were always some Monsters that relied on their powerful bodies and formidable strength, never taking spider webs seriously.

Arachno preyed precisely on such creatures.

But today, it had clearly met its match.

A massive axe was embedded squarely in the spider monster's head, smashing it to a pulp.

Huff—huff—

The bull-headed, human-bodied Monster panted heavily as it pulled out its axe. With a slight flick of its wrist, it flung off most of the clinging blood and gore.

Muscles knotted like boulders rippled beneath the fur of its sturdy four-and-a-half-meter frame with every breath. Even among Minotaurs, it was an exceptionally strong specimen.

Under its berserk assault, the hunter had become the prey.

But it had not emerged unscathed.

Poison from the web it had touched spread through the veins in its left arm. Even its Level 5 poison resistance could only keep it from spreading further.

Losing the use of one arm for a time would inevitably make survival in the Dungeon extremely difficult.

Fortunately, that problem would no longer trouble it soon.

A pure black dagger emerged from the shadows and lightly swept around the Minotaur's thick neck. Its throat was sliced open as easily as tofu.

Watching the Minotaur collapse to the ground, only able to twitch now, Night Owl stepped out of the darkness and complained to the other three who had just arrived.

"At least a Level 40 Minotaur. This thing could serve as a treasure chest guardian even on the Eighth Floor. If it hadn't been in poor condition, I would've had to put in quite some effort.

I've got a feeling that if we keep wandering around like this, we'll run into something truly troublesome sooner or later.

Nova, about how much farther do we have to go?"

Nova rubbed the guiding crystal in his hand. "Soon. The direction has been changing more and more sharply, which means we're already close."

"Garr, help me cut open its abdomen."

Ivan pointed at the spider's corpse and ordered his teammate around.

"Why? Giant spider monster fluids stink like hell..."

Garr looked utterly unwilling, but he still drew his dissecting knife and slit open the spider's belly.

Sure enough, a fishy stench rushed into his face. He quickly fanned the air and backed away two steps.

But Ivan rushed over with shining eyes, completely unconcerned by the foul smell, and reached inside to pull out an organ.

"It really is an Arachno. Its venom sac is the best material for setting up a Poison Cloud Ritual!"

Only after Ivan took out an exquisite box and carefully stored away the foul-smelling venom sac did Nova lead everyone onward.

He had a feeling that they would find their target within three more Caves at most.

In truth, after passing through another Cave scattered with Fire Mosquitoes, they reached their destination.

Outside the Mushroom Garden, the four stared at the scene before them in utter disbelief—a group of Pujis had actually claimed territory in the Deep Zone!?

No, more importantly, how could there be Pujis in the Deep Zone?

Sure, the Deep Zone had Monsters of every level, but that did not include Pujis, which had practically no ability to survive...

Not to mention anything else, wouldn't those Fire Mosquitoes next door treat them like an all-you-can-eat buffet every day?

Garr stood there with his mouth open for a long while before muttering, "If it's here, then I think I understand why that young lady is still alive..."

"One's coming over."

A Puji trotted toward them on its short little legs.

Only then did Ivan remember to use Scout to investigate it.

"Sure enough, it's Level 1... Hm? Skills? It has..."

But someone reacted faster than he did. As the Puji approached, Night Owl's figure vanished.

[Shadow Shuttle LV9]

As an experienced Adventurer, he would not be distracted by the seemingly harmless sight before him. The moment he attacked, he went all out.

In an instant, he appeared behind the Puji, and the Black Blade slashed down—

Boom—

"Night Owl! Be... careful..."

Ivan's warning came far too late.

Fortunately, it was only a small explosion and could not truly injure Night Owl.

However, when he emerged from the smoke, he was covered in soot and grime. He glared at Ivan so fiercely that he was just short of demanding an explanation outright.

"Haha... Sorry. It was so strange that I got distracted..."

"I've never heard of Walking Mushrooms exploding. And those others don't look like ordinary Walking Mushrooms either."

Nova pointed at the Cannon Mushrooms over there, promptly shifting the subject.

Ivan used Scout again. "Those ones can fire Magic Cannons. They aren't very powerful, and they don't seem particularly aggressive?"

Indeed, their group had already taken the initiative to kill one that Self-Destructed, yet the other Pujis showed no reaction at all. They neither attacked nor fled.

Very strange.

"Should we clear them all out?"

Night Owl asked with his mouth, but his body was already preparing to move. Having just lost face, he was still holding back his anger.

But Nova beside him stopped him.

"Wait. The Duke's daughter is still in there. We don't know what might happen if we cause a disturbance.

They're not much of a threat and aren't attacking us, so let's just go in.

Stay alert at all times."

His final sentence was directed at the Half-Dragon. He needed to protect his companions from any sudden attacks.

[Damage Substitution LV7]
[Shield Domain LV8]
[Group Defense Boost LV8]

The Half-Dragon cast several protective skills in succession.

"Alright, let's go in."

As soon as the group entered the passage connected to the Fire Mosquito nest, Linden sensed them through the mushrooms growing in the passage.

The Archmage Ivan had not noticed Linden secretly monitoring the entire Mushroom Garden, and Linden had heard every word of their conversation.

However,

I can't understand them...

As expected, people from another world naturally would not be speaking an Earth language.

Communicating with Inanna through the Mycelium Network was actually a kind of mental local network. What was transmitted were thoughts rather than language, so there was naturally no language barrier.

Now that he had encountered people actually speaking the language of another world, he really could not understand them...

Although he could not understand them, he had not seen a single human in all these years. Now, a group that was obviously headed for the Mushroom Garden had appeared.

There was a ninety-nine percent chance their target was Inanna.

He just did not know whether they had come to kill her or rescue her.

Inanna had a [Tracking Mark] on her. No matter how he thought about it, it had probably been placed there by her Duke father.

So this group had most likely come to save her.

In truth, even if they had not, Linden did not have any good options right now.

It was not that he was unwilling to shelter the little follower he had picked up, but he only had forty Combat Pujis and one hundred support Pujis at the moment.

He had checked the four people on the other side as well. The lowest was Level 52, while the highest was Level 58.

Every one of them was higher level than the Earth Worm, and their Panels were packed with high-level skills that complemented one another perfectly.

Even if he deployed his trump card, the Strongest Puji, he would have absolutely no chance of winning against such a lineup.

As for running?

They had found them after pinpointing their location. Where could he possibly take her?

Looking at Pink Puji, who was still foolishly practicing magic in the garden, Linden felt that he should warn her.

"Inanna."

"What is it, Boss?"

"Your family sent people to pick you up. Probably..."

"My family? Probably?"

"They might also be here to slaughter you..."

"..."